The State Dinner
"The State Dinner" is the seventh episode of the first season of The West Wing. As a state dinner honoring the Indonesian President looms in the background, President Bartlet and his staff keep their eyes on several potentially explosive problems: an FBI hostage standoff with dozens of militant survivalists, a Class-4 hurricane bearing down on a carrier group at sea and an impending national trucker's strike. Behind the scenes, the gracious First Lady prepares to host the dinner, a reporter flirts with C.J., Josh and Toby set up a meeting with an Indonesian government official to ask a favor, and a surprised Sam spies his call girl friend Laurie at the event. Summary Opening C.J. is holiding the informal press gaggle where she is being questioned on the upcoming State Dinner for the Indonesian President and his wife. She is bothered by the repeated questions on the fashions that will be sported by Mrs. Bartlet and the Indonesian President's wife. When she leaves, Josh informs her of a strengthening hurricane that will strike Georgia and the Carolinas. Sam then adds on that the Teamsters are voting to strike. This is followed by Toby, who informs her of a hostage crisis in Idaho. Act I Josh asks Donna to find a translator so he and Toby can speak with one of the Indonesian representatives who will be attending the State Dinner. Donna tries to impress upon Josh that she is not happy with the Indonesians because they, among other things, "summararily execute people they suspect of being sorcerers." At the Senior Staff Meeting, the group discusses the upcoming Teamsters meeting, the hurricane, and the hostage crisis. Mandy tries to get involved in the drafting of the evening's toast - to which Josh objects, but Leo allows. Next, President Bartlet and the President of Indonesia are standing for photos from the White House Press Corps, while the two Presidents try to engage in small talk (spurred by Bartlet), though the President of Indonesia is not interested. Sam is working on the toast and Leo holds his meeting with the Teamsters. Management and the Union are at odds over a number of issues and are not close to an agreement. Mandy and Josh discuss the hostage crisis. mandy has knowledge about the weapons in the compound and Josh is annoyed the President sometimes listens to Mandy. Act II President Bartlet and the Indonesian President continue their appearances before the White House Press Corps, taking questions, which the Indonesian President continues to be disengaged in responding to the questions. Danny asks President Bartlet about the protestors that are outside the White House, which C.J. hears as vermeil, and cuts Danny off, saying she will cover it at the briefing. Danny follows C.J. out of the room where he teases her that she doesn't know what the protests are about. As the next group of press is brought in, Leo asks President Bartlet to step outside of the room for a moment. Leo informs the President they are moving a battle carrier group out to sea from Norfolk to avoid the hurricane. Meanwhile, Toby and Sam continue to work on President Bartlet's toast for the evening. Toby wants to be hardlined on the toast, calling the Indonesians out on political opression but Sam impresses upon Toby that would be impolitic. C.J. discusses vermeil at the press briefing, much to Danny's amusement, because the protestors number all of 6 people "with some oaktag and magic markers." Sam meets with Lori for lunch and they discuss her "work" - she has a client for the evening. The President gets another briefing on the hostage crisis in Idaho. Mandy makes her case about the fact the US Government sold them their weapons. Mandy urges the group to consider a peaceful resolution before storming the compound. The President agrees to have a negotiator sent in. Act III As the State Dinner gets underway, Charlie stops by Josh's office to ask if Josh can find out about his grandparents who are in rural Georgia. Josh asks Donna (whose still going on about the sorcerers) to call FEMA to see about Charlies's grandparents. Josh and Mandy have a "walk and talk conversation" and then meet up with Sam, and Josh and Sam have a brief conversation about the toast. Toby finds Josh and they meet with the State Department translator who is to help them with the Indonesian representative. However, Mr. Minaldi (the State Dept. translator) speaks Javanese, and Mr. Bong Bong (the Indonesian representative) speaks Botok. Donna appears to say that she is aware of this problem but has found a dishwasher in the White House kitchen that speaks Botok. Mr. Minaldi speaks Portuguese and so does the dishwasher. So Josh and Toby will be able to converse with Mr. Bong Bong via English-Portuguese-Botok-Portuguese-English. C.J. and Mrs. Bartlet speak about the vermeil - Mrs. Bartlet is not embarassed by it and "the truth works most of the time." Mandy is anxious to hear about the events in Idaho. Leo asks Josh, Toby, and Sam to meet with Carl Everett, a major Democratic donor. Carl Everett has brought a date to the State Dinner - Lori. Leo meets with C.J. because the hurricane is moving out to sea - and the battle carrier group is directly in its path. Back at the Dinner, Josh gets word the hostage crisis is over - the FBI took the house, but not before the militia men shot the negotiator. Josh tells Mandy this and she runs from the room to be sick. Act IV Category:Episodes Category:Season 1 Credits Cast Starring *Rob Lowe as Sam Seaborn *Moira Kelly as Mandy Hampton *Dulé Hill as Charlie Young *Allison Janney as C.J. Cregg *Richard Schiff as Toby Ziegler *John Spencer as Leo McGarry *Bradley Whitford as Josh Lyman *and Martin Sheen as President Josiah Bartlet Special Guest Star *Stockard Channing as Abbey Bartlet Guest Starring *Lisa Edelstein as Laurie *Timothy Busfield as Danny Concannon *Janel Moloney as Donna Moss *David Rasche as Carl Everett *Dennis Cockrum as Captain *John Kapelos as Seymour Little *Peter Kors as Rahmadi Sumahidjo Bambang *Sal Landi as Chafey *William Lucking as Bobby Russo *Steve Rankin as FBI Agent #2 *Jeff Williams as Harold Lewis Co-Starring *Kathryn Joosten as Mrs. Landingham *Melissa Fitzgerald as Carol *Ariono Suriawinata as President of Indonesia *Nelson Mashita as Minaldi *Bradley James as a Secret Service Agent *Rod Porter as a Photographer *Tyler Bowe as Gomez *Jacqueline Torres as Sondra *Mindy Seeger as Chris *Jana Lee Hamblin as Bobbi *J.P. Stevenson as a Reporter *Colin K. Gray as a Reporter Casts Notes Ariono Suriawinata is credited by his character's title "President of Indonesia" although he is identified in dialogue as Rahm Siguto. Bradley James, J.P. Stevenson, and Colin K. Gray are credited by their character's jobs although they are named later. Crew Opening credits #Aaron Sorkin - Creator #W.G. Snuffy Walden - Music #Michael Hissrich - Co-producer #Kristin Harms - Producer #Jeff Reno - Consulting Producer #Ron Osborn - Consulting Producer #Llewellyn Wells - Episodic Producer #Aaron Sorkin and #Paul Redford - Writers #Thomas Schlamme - Director Closing credits #Aaron Sorkin - Executive Producer #Thomas Schlamme - Executive Producer #John Wells - Executive Producer #Rick Cleveland - Co-producer #Peter Parnell - Executive Story Editor #Paul Redford - Story Editor #Patrick Caddell - Consultant #Dee Dee Myers - Consultant #Julie Herlocker - Associate Producer #Robert W. Glass, III - Associate Producer #Thomas Del Ruth - Director of Photography #Kenneth Hardy - Production Designer #Tina Hirsch - Editor #Robert P. Cohen - Unit Production Manager #Rodney Hooks - First Assistant Director #Stacy Fish - Second Assistant Director #Barbara Miller - Executive in Charge of Casting #John Levey - Casting #Kevin Scott - Casting Trivia The was the first episode to show Mrs. Bartlet on-screen. It is later revealed in the Season 2 episode "Two Cathedrals" that the tender ship USS Hickory ''that the President talks to at the end of this episode was sunk in the hurricane, presumably with all hands lost. Goofs President Bartlett threatens the striking truck workers that he would nationalize the trucking industry to avert the strike, using the precedent that Truman did it in 1952 to avert the coal mines. Truman actually seized the steel mills and his seizure was ruled unconstitutional in the Supreme court case Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0745706/goofs It is mentioned that the action was overturned in the episode. Minaldi claims there is no such language as Indonesian, but this isn't the case. While it is true that most Indonesians speak a local language as their first language, nearly all of them do speak Indonesian. When they realize the Hurricane is heading out to sea Leo refers to the fleet as a "Battle Carrier Group". Properly it is a Carrier Battle Group. In addition, they also refer to two battleships in the fleet when in actuality they have been retired since 1992. Quotes :'Sam Seaborn:' Toby, do you really think it's a good idea to invite people to dinner and then tell them exactly how to run their lives? :'Toby Ziegler:' Absolutely. Otherwise, it's just a waste of food. :'Sam Seaborn:' Oh, for God's sakes. It's Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 US 335. You cite the precedent, you cite Black's opinion for the majority. :'Laurie:''' Thank you for that display of geek bravado. References "The West Wing" The State Dinner (1999) Category:Season 1 Episode